9th Michigan Cask Ale Festival At Ashley's To Showcase Largest Selection In The State

The Michigan Cask Ale Festival returns Saturday, May 14, to Ashley’s Beer & Grill, 7525 Wayne Road. The Festival is the largest offering of cask-conditioned craft beers at one time anywhere in the state.

More than 30 cask ales from renowned breweries across Michigan and from coast-to-coast across the U.S. will be pouring from 2pm to 5 pm. This year's Festival will include a special offering of Michigan nanobreweries, small craft breweries that self-distribute and thus are generally not available outside of their local community.

Cask ale, also called real ale, represents the traditional, centuries-old way of serving ale, unfiltered and naturally carbonated by the live yeast in the vessel it’s served from. This cask conditioning results in a more complex, delicately flavorful beer, closer to the way the brewer intended than when it’s poured on a draft system. Because these beers are hand made, brewers can create new and unique flavors in the cask not possible in regular draft craft beer.

“Most venues can’t serve cask ale, what we call ‘the craft beer of craft beer,’ because the living nature of the beers means they require special handling,” said Roy More, co-owner of Ashley’s. “As the market for craft beer explodes, more and more beer lovers are seeking something special. Ashley’s is committed to providing them with unique taste experiences they can’t find anywhere else.”

About Ashley’s

Founded in 1983 next to the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Ashley’s has been proud to serve its guests a wide selection of great beers from around the world for over three decades. Today, as “Michigan’s premier multi-tap,” Ashley’s features an ever-rotating lineup of flavorful draft beers from nearly 120 different taps at our two locations in Ann Arbor and Westland, as well as more than 80 bottled beer selections.

Ashley's was rated one of the Top 100 Beer Bars by DRAFT Magazine in and Top 50 Beer Restaurants by RateBeer.com and most recently as one of the Top 33 Craft Beer Bars in the Country by ThrillList

Paul Starr is the creator of the I'm a Beer Hound and one of the organizer and the driving force behind Art & Craft Beerfest, Lansing Beer Fest, Beerfest at the Ballpark Spring & Fall. When he's not working on Beer Hound he's probably watching the Lions, Tigers or Red Wings. Being a recent new Dad of twins, he doesn't have much extra time these days for mischief.